Text: Galatians 6:7-10
Title: Sowing and reaping.
Introduction
Before we get serious I thought you might appreciate the following warning labels.
Not intended for highway use – on a 13 inch wheel on a wheelbarrow
May irritate eyes – on a can of self-defense pepper spray
Please keep out of children – on a butcher’s knife
Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly – on a child sized Superman costume
May be harmful if swallowed – on a shipment of hammers
Warning: has been known to cause cancer in laboratory mice – on a box of rat poison
Our text for today also begins with a Warning
•Do not be deceived
Do not be deceived about what? Let’s read on.
Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows
Warning: Do not be deceived about the principal of Sowing and Reaping.
Here is the principal of Sowing and Reaping…
1.You always reap what you sow
2.You always reap more than you sow
3.You always reap later than you sow
1.You always reap what you sow.
“Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (v7)
Illustration: If you sow an apple seed -you reap an apple tree (not an orange tree or a pear tree)
Why not an orange tree or a pear tree? You always reap what you sow.
Definition of insanity: Always doing what you did before but expecting different results
If I always reap what I sow -then I need to be very careful about what I sow.
The Good News is God makes it really easy for me to be very careful about what we sow.
Here is how God has made it really easy for me to be very careful about we sow.
Our scripture for today tells me that I really only have two choices where I can sow.
Not a million choices. Not a thousand choices. Not a hundred choices. Not even ten choices
Only 2 choices! God makes it simple!
•I can sow to please my sinful nature or…
•I can sow to please the Spirit.
Understand this:
•Whenever I sow to please the sinful nature I am mocking God
•Whenever I sow to please the Spirit I am magnifying God
Our Focus needs to be on Sowing to please the Spirit
So now I need to know what pleases the Spirit?
Again God helps us
I please the Spirit by…doing good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (v10)
Illustration: You and I are like Salvation Army clothes boxes
“Doing the most good”
Paul doesn’t elaborate here on what it means to do good to all people
But here is what Jesus had to say about doing good…
Jesus said: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)
If you and I do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of God you and I will reap good things back.
Why? You always reap what you sow
This brings us to the second part of the principle of sowing and reaping
2.Don’t be deceived -You always reap more than you sow
“The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Notice that the scripture tells us up front what we will reap.
“The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction.”
Some people will argue: How could God do such a terrible thing?
But the scripture does not put the blame for anyone’s destruction on God.
“The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction.”
In other words people destroy their own lives!
“There is a way that seems right to man but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs
God is letting us know that we always reap more than we sow because He does not want to see any man or woman destroyed!
So God always gives us a way out of destruction
The one who sows to please the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
To understand this verse
We already said that doing good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers pleases the Spirit
This verse is not saying that by doing good you will reap eternal life
What the verse is saying is this;
By doing good because of what Jesus did for you on the cross–you will reap eternal life
Jesus died on the cross for our sins so we can in turn do good to others; especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
If we are not doing good to others especially to those who belong to the family of believers we need to question if we are really saved.
Faith without works is dead.
Eternal life is not something you receive the moment you die. Eternal life is something you receive the moment you accept Jesus.
What does eternal life help us do?
Eternal life helps us to please the Spirit and how do we please the Spirit - by doing good to others!
God wants us to do good to others though the power of eternal life.
Eternal life is the power that helps us to do good to others especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Finally the principal of sowing and reaping states…
You always reap later than you sow
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Deceived: You reap the same moment you sow
The truth is you might not even reap the same year you sow
But God does promise us we will definitely reap more than we sow at the proper time!
And only God knows the proper time.
If you are here today and you are not yet saved then praise God that you reap later than you sow. This gives you still time to repent
Why is it important to know that you always reap later than you sow?
1.So that you will not grow weary in well doing.
2.So that you will not give up.
Some of you have being praying for unsaved loved ones for years
Do not become weary in praying for unsaved loved ones.
Do not give up praying for unsaved loved ones.
Conclusion
If you are sowing to please your sinful nature – Repent!
If you are sowing to please the spirit- Repeat! And keep on repeating.
